Lightning flashed and thunder boomed in the distance as they pulled along the side of the road two houses away from Olivia’s house. Jimmy’s car was parked in front of her place and several patrol cars were parked on either side of the road some distance back.
It was obvious nobody had approached the house and everyone was awaiting Olivia’s orders. Her fingers trembled as she unfastened her seat belt. He worried that her legs might not hold her when she opened the door to get out of the car.
She surprised him, getting out and standing tall, none of the fear he’d seen on her face in the car now present as Deputy Wes Stiller approached.
“We need to establish contact,” Olivia said. “And I need to know that the two hostages are okay.” Her voice broke slightly.
Daniel moved closer to her, fighting the impulse to pull her against his chest, to hold her tight and tell her that everything was going to be all right.
However, he couldn’t tell her that everything was going to be okay, nor did he want to undermine her authority in front of the other men. She was the boss and she would call the shots.
“I’ll try my mother’s cell phone,” she said. She punched in the numbers and waited. Daniel stood close enough to her that he could hear it ring over and over again until an answering machine came on. Olivia waited for the beep, and then spoke. “Jimmy, we need to talk. Answer the phone.” There was no reply and the call disconnected.
By that time Bo had arrived on scene. He hurried over to Olivia and Daniel as the dark of the storm grew deeper and the lightning got closer.
“I’ve tried to call him, but he isn’t answering any of my calls,” Bo said. “I can’t believe this is happening. I don’t understand any of it. Why would Jimmy do something like this?”
“I don’t give a damn why,” Olivia snapped. “We just need to get him out of that house and away from my family.” Tears filled her eyes and she looked desperately at Daniel. “I need to think like a cop, but right now all I can do is think like a mother.”
Daniel looked at Wes. “Get a perimeter of men surrounding the house, but don’t get close enough that Jimmy feels more threatened. Just make sure he doesn’t escape out the back door.”
“Got it,” Wes replied and hurried toward the gathering group of officers who had arrived on scene.
Olivia called her mother again, quickly hitting speaker as the call was answered by Rose. “Olivia. He fooled me.” Rose’s voice trembled with suppressed terror and then she began to cry. “He said he was delivering mozzarella sticks and he had a bag from Jimmy’s Place and so I let him in. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“Mom, none of that matters now. I know you’re scared. Is Lily okay? Are you both unharmed?” Olivia asked. Her fingers around her cell phone were bone white with tension.
“We’re fine, but...” Rose’s voice cut out and instead Jimmy’s filled the line.
“They’re fine for now, but I can’t promise you it’s going to stay that way,” he said.
“Tell me what you want, Jimmy.” Olivia’s voice was once again strong and controlled. “Tell me how we can resolve this so that nobody gets hurt.”
“I’ll let you know what I want later.” With those words, Jimmy cut the line off. Olivia immediately called back but the phone rang once and then was hung up.
“Let me try again,” Bo said. He dialed Jimmy’s cell phone number and punched his phone on speaker. To everyone’s surprise, Jimmy answered.
“I’ve got nothing to say to you,” Jimmy said.
“Jimmy, just give yourself up. Come out of the house and nobody will get hurt,” Bo said.
“I’ll go to prison. That bitch of a girlfriend of yours double-crossed me.” A wealth of venom deepened Jimmy’s voice.
“What are you talking about?” Bo asked in obvious confusion. “Jimmy, I’m begging you as a friend to come out and end this.”
“You aren’t my friend,” Jimmy yelled. “You never were my friend. I was your charity case. You were the golden boy and I got your leftovers. People were only friends with me because of you. The best thing that ever happened to me was when you left town and I got to live your life. I got to live with your mother and run your business.”
“What did you do to Shelly?” Bo asked.
“I took her from you. I courted her, and we had plans to leave town together, but on the night it was supposed to happen, she decided she couldn’t leave you. You always won. That night I made sure you didn’t win. I took her away from you forever.”
Jimmy hung up and Bo stared at Daniel in confused horror. “All this time I thought we were friends, and he’s hated me.”
“I think we just got to the bottom of Shelly’s sticky situation,” Daniel said. “Shelly was torn between leaving town with Jimmy and staying here with you. She chose you and something inside Jimmy snapped.”
“Does Jimmy have a gun?” Olivia asked.
“To be honest, I don’t know. When I was running Bo’s Place, I always kept a handgun under the counter near the cash register. I took that gun with me when I left town since it was registered to me. I don’t know whether Jimmy got one or not,” Bo said.
“Wes, get on your laptop and see if you can find out if Jimmy owns a gun,” Olivia said.
It didn’t matter, Daniel thought. Jimmy could easily kill Rose and Lily without a gun being fired. He suspected Olivia was aware of that, but her command to Wes was an effort to do something, anything.
Lightning once again slashed the sky, closer this time and followed within seconds by a round of rumbling thunder. “What happens now?” Bo asked.
“We wait.” Olivia’s voice was hollow. “Right now Jimmy holds all the cards. We wait to see what his next move is and then we react.”
Daniel knew she was right. There was no way they could act, not with Lily and Rose at risk. At the moment, Jimmy had all the control and until he did something to lose that control, they were in a stalemate.
“No more phone calls,” she said as Bo started to use his cell phone again. “We don’t contact him. We wait until he contacts one of us.”
Daniel gazed at Olivia. Her features were taut, her shoulders back and she appeared in complete command of the situation until he looked into her eyes. There, all of her fear simmered like a bubbling cauldron about to boil over.
Overhead the storm was nearly upon them, the lightning and thunder coming closer and with more frequency. The tempest was reflected in Olivia’s eyes, and Daniel feared she’d break before this all came to some kind of an end.
And Daniel couldn’t begin to guess how it might end. Jimmy had sounded like a piece of dry tinder about to explode into flames when he’d spoken with Bo.
The minutes ticked by in agonizing increments. Each time Daniel thought of the hostages inside the house, his heart ached with a fear he’d never known before. Although he cared about Rose’s well-being, it was the thought of little Lily being terrorized or hurt that made him sick to his stomach.
He couldn’t imagine the dark thoughts Olivia must be entertaining as they waited for Jimmy to make some kind of contact.
Although white shades were pulled shut at the front windows, silhouettes occasionally passed in front of them, letting Daniel know that at least Jimmy hadn’t already killed the hostages and then committed suicide as a final end to the standoff.
Wes left his patrol car and returned to where Olivia, Daniel and Bo stood. “Jimmy registered a handgun six months ago, but I called Jimmy’s Place and talked to the bartender, who said the gun is under the counter.”
“He didn’t have time to grab it,” Bo said thoughtfully. “Once I confronted him with Shelly’s ring, he ran. I chased him down the stairs and he ran right out the back door. It’s good that he doesn’t have a gun, right?” He looked at Daniel and then Olivia.
“He didn’t need a
gun to kill Shelly,” Olivia replied. Her voice held a tremble that spoke of how close to the edge of a breakdown she was.
Again Daniel wanted to take her into his arms, hold her tight against him and take away her pain. Unfortunately, he knew he wasn’t what she needed most at the moment. What she needed was to have her daughter in her arms, safe and sound. What she wanted was her mother out of that house and standing next to her.
He hated that he didn’t know what to do, that he didn’t know how to resolve this without taking a risk, and he wasn’t willing to do anything that might risk Rose and Lily.
The ring of Olivia’s phone jarred all of them. She answered and put it on speaker. “Jimmy, you need to tell me how we can solve this so that nobody gets hurt.”
“This is what I want.” His voice was harsh and it was difficult to realize this was the same man who greeted them at the bar and grill with a boyish smile and oozing charm.
“I want all of you to pull out, and that includes anyone you have covering the back of the house. I want everyone far enough away that I can get to my car safely,” he said.
“We can do that,” Olivia agreed. Daniel assumed she was willing to let him drive away from here because she could put out a bulletin to law enforcement outside of Lost Lagoon. He might leave their little town, but he wouldn’t get far.
“And for assurance purposes I’m taking Lily with me. When I know I’m safe I’ll drop her off somewhere and let you know where she is,” Jimmy added.
“No. No way are you leaving that house with my daughter,” Olivia replied frantically, and tears began to well up in her eyes.
“That’s the only way this will end,” Jimmy replied. “I’ll give you fifteen minutes to agree to my plan. If you don’t, then things are going to go bad in here very quickly.” He disconnected and Olivia might have fallen to the ground if Daniel hadn’t caught her.
He held her close as she wept—no longer Sheriff Bradford, but simply a terrified mother. Lightning crackled and thunder boomed overhead.
The skies had yet to unleash a torrent of rain, but the rain was on Olivia’s face as she wept uncontrollably in his arms. She finally looked up at him. “We have to get them out of there. You have to get Lily out. She’s your daughter, Daniel. You have to save her.”
He froze and dropped his arms from around her. “What did you say?”
She swiped at her cheeks, and as he stared at her it was as if everything else around them disappeared. “That night in New Orleans...we made Lily. She’s your daughter.” Olivia choked on another sob. “And now she needs her daddy to save her.”
Her daddy. Her age...her bright green eyes so like his own. God, why hadn’t he realized it before now? Lily was his child, his own flesh and blood.
He couldn’t think about that right now. If he did, he’d fall into a miasma of emotions that would mess with his head. Jimmy had given them fifteen minutes to agree to his demands.
The clock was ticking and somehow, someway he needed to bring this all to an end. Thunder boomed overhead once again, and with it an idea sprang to life in his mind.
“Move all the men back,” he said to Olivia. “Call in the men surrounding the house.”
“Surely you aren’t agreeing to his demands,” Olivia asked, her eyes wide with horror.
“No, but I want him to think we’re complying with him. Get everyone moved out of the area. Trust me, Olivia. I have a plan but we need to move fast.”
It took four minutes to have all of the men leave. They moved to the next street over to wait for further commands. Once they were gone, Daniel looked at Olivia. “Call Jimmy and tell him you want to see Rose and Lily in the front window, that you won’t agree to anything else until you see them with your own eyes.”
“And what are you going to do?”
“Hopefully, I’m going to save my daughter,” he replied grimly. With these words he raced for the side of the house. With his heart pounding near heart attack speed, he slowly moved around the back of the house and to the other side.
He crouched down beneath the window that he knew was located in Lily’s bedroom. He peeked inside to find the room dark. Good. The darkness was his friend.
The unlit bedroom and the storm raging overhead were advantages. But the alarm system was a definite disadvantage. If it had been rearmed after Jimmy had entered the house, then Daniel’s plan wouldn’t work and the results could be catastrophic.
If he tried to open or break the window and the alarm sounded, then Jimmy would know immediately that somebody was attempting to enter the house.
Jimmy was already agitated and desperate, a dangerous combination. Daniel had no way to guess what his reaction might be. He hoped that Olivia had made the call and if Jimmy complied with her request then all three of them would be in the living room.
With the stealth of a jewel thief, he carefully removed the window screen and placed it against the side of the house next to him.
Lily was his daughter. The words whirled around in his head. Why hadn’t Olivia told him when she’d first arrived here? Why had it taken this life-and-death drama for her to spill the secret?
He couldn’t think of that right now. He needed to stay focused on the here and now and what he needed to do. With his heart beating a desperate rhythm, he waited for the lightning that would be followed by thunder.
He held his gun in his hand, the butt of it ready to hit the window. As lightning slashed the sky, a crackle of electricity shot through him. The thunder boomed, and at the same time Daniel used the butt of his gun to break the window just above the turn lock.
He held his breath and then shuddered in relief as no alarm sounded. Apparently in the chaos that must have occurred when Jimmy had first entered the house, nobody had thought to reset the alarm.
The clap of thunder had provided the right cover for the sound of the breaking glass. Daniel held his breath and reached in and unlocked the window and then slowly eased it up.
It was only when he’d entered the window and stood in the center of Lily’s bedroom that he began to breathe again. He steadied his gun in his hand and moved toward the doorway, which would give him a direct line of vision to the living room.
Once again his breath caught in his chest as he stood just inside the bedroom doorway. If Jimmy caught sight of him, then he knew that all bets were off concerning the safety of the hostages.
He peeked his head around the doorway and saw Rose seated on the sofa, sobbing softly. Jimmy stood at the front window, the shade up, and he held Lily up under her armpits as a shield in front of him.
There was no way Jimmy could have a knife or any other weapon in his hand at that particular moment. It was now or never. Daniel burst out of the bedroom. “Jimmy. It’s over.”
Jimmy whirled around and Daniel didn’t hesitate. He shot the man in his right lower leg. Jimmy screamed in pain and went down and Daniel holstered his gun and rushed to grab a sobbing Lily from the floor.
She hugged him around his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist, clinging to him as she cried. His child. His daughter. His heart clenched tight.
“I knew you’d come to save us, Deputy,” she finally said loud enough to be heard above Jimmy’s cries for help. Rose jumped off the sofa and embraced both of them.
“Let’s get you out of here,” Daniel said. He went to the front door, opened it wide enough to slip his hand outside and called, “We’re coming out.” Taking hold of Rose’s hand, he led her and carried Lily to safety.
Olivia stood at the end of the driveway as raindrops were finally beginning to fall. At the sight of Daniel with Lily in his arms, she ran toward them. “Thank God,” she sobbed as she took Lily from him. Daniel ushered all of them onto the lawn farther away from the house, away from danger, then used his cell phone to call in the men.
Bo entered the house
with several of the other deputies. He looked down at the man who he’d believed had been his friend for so long. “I did everything I could to help you,” he said.
“And I resented every handout you ever gave me,” Jimmy replied. “I was glad when everyone thought you killed Shelly. I was elated when you decided to leave town. I destroyed you.”
Bo smiled grimly and shook his head. “I have a wife who loves me and who I love. I’m taking back the business I built and own. You didn’t destroy me, Jimmy. You destroyed yourself.”
By that time an ambulance had arrived. Jimmy was whisked away under guard. The doctors would deal with his gunshot wound, and once he was well enough he would stand trial for the murder of Shelly Sinclair.
It was finally over. The crime had been solved. And Daniel had a daughter. Overwhelmed by myriad emotions, he left the scene and got into his car. He sat for a long moment and then started the engine and pulled away.
He needed to think. He needed to process everything. He felt raw and oddly vulnerable. What he needed more than anything was some time alone to figure out what he wanted and what he needed to do as a man with a precious child.
Chapter Thirteen
The cat was out of the bag. That was Olivia’s first thought when she awakened on the futon just after dawn. And her timing and delivery couldn’t have been worse.
She was self-aware enough to know that part of the reason she’d blurted out the information had been a little bit of manipulation. She needed him to know that Lily wasn’t just a child in danger, but rather was his child. She’d hoped that would be the incentive for him to go to the ends of the earth to get Lily to safety.
She turned over on her side to face the front window where the sun was just starting to peek over the horizon. The storms from the night before were gone and it looked as if it was going to be a clear, sunny day.
What was Daniel thinking? What was he feeling? Did he hate her for getting pregnant, for telling him about Lily or for not telling him about his daughter the first day she had arrived here?
Scene of the Crime: Who Killed Shelly Sinclair? Page 15